A heat-sink is an object that transfers thermal energy from a higher temperature to a lower temperature fluid medium. Heat-sinks used for the cooling of electronic components are typically constructed from thermally conductive materials such as aluminum alloys and generally possess a base portion of relatively thicker material and a region having a plurality of fins or posts, designed to maximize the surface area of the heat-sink exposed to the air or other fluid medium having a temperature lower than that of the heat-sink. The base portion is in close contact with a heat producing element such as a CPU or other heat producing electrical components, and the fins disperse the conducted heat to the surrounding fluid medium.
Heat-sinks are conventionally manufactured by extruding, machining, pressure die-casting, or some combination of the foregoing processes.
Size of finned heat-sinks varies greatly depending on the application and range; from types used for graphic card memory of typically a 1 cm2 base size, to units having contact areas of >1000 cm2. Because the variety of electrical components that require cooling is virtually endless and the pace of innovation so rapid, many heat-sinks are custom produced for the particular application which increases the cost to manufacture, and invariably raises the price to the consumer.
At least one interlocking heat-sink assembly is known in the art which teaches a heat-sink formed of pre-cut and press-fitted strip elements to form an interlocking stack permitting the heat-sinks to readily scale. When press-fitting sub-units to form larger assemblies, the press-fitted sub-units are often subject to excessive shear forces causing unwanted deformation, deflection, structural failure and voids. Any gap between press-fitted elements necessarily reduces conduction across the heat-sink and impairs the heat-sink's ability to transfer heat to the fluid medium.
Although a scalable press-fit heat-sink assembly performing substantially as well as one conventionally produced would be desirable for many reasons, e.g., reduced time to manufacture, the production of such an assembly has heretofore been problematic.